Approximately 300 biotechnology, pharmaceutical, equipment, biofuels and medical device companies are based in Virginia, mainly clustered around universities in Blacksburg, Charlottesville, Richmond, Norfolk and Northern Virginia. This blog is an informal diary of what is going on with the industry in Virginia. Opinions here are those of the posters and not necessarily shared by Virginia Bio.

Friday, February 27, 2009

More than a year's work on proposals to help promote the bioscience and advanced technology industry in Virginia comes down to actions by the General Assembly today.

SB 1338, the "omnibus" biotech bill patroned by Senator Mark Herring, won advancement to a conference committee late yesterday afternoon. The Senate appointed Mark Herring, Don McEachin and Jill Vogel as conferees. House conferees are Mark Sickles, Sam Nixon and John O' Bannon.

The goal of VaBio is to help the advocates on both sides of the embryonic stem cell issue to find a compromise that leads to final passage.

VaBIO is grateful to several key members who have really worked hard to find a satisfactory compromise: Senator Ken Stolle of Virginia Beach and Delegate Sam Nixon of Chesterfield have really gone above the call of duty to help.

Luckily, there have only been two legislators so far who appear unwilling to look for a compromise. One Delegate from the Richmond area called the VaBio lobbyist "Dr. Mengele," a reference to a Nazi concentration camp doctor. More on that later!